District Court: marijuana sentence, weapons-related cases

Marijuana possession and firearms figured prominently in proceedings in Rappahannock County District Court last Tuesday (May 10).

Charlie Douglas Cunningham, 19, of Old Greenwich, Connecticut, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana. His attorney Frank Reynolds told the court that his client is “in college in North Carolina and wanted to get this done. Judge Peter Thomas Hansen sentenced Cunningham to a year of unsupervised probation, suspended his license for six months and ordered him to perform 24 hours of community service. Hansen said that if Cunningham had fully complied with the sentence by May 16, 2017, Cunningham would not have to return to the court.

Troy Adam Salyers, 21, of Front Royal waived his right for an attorney to defend him against a charge of possession of marijuana. “I wish to resolve this matter today,” said Salyers. He reached a plea agreement with Commonwealth’s Attorney Art Goff, which Hansen accepted before sentencing Salyers to 90 days in jail, all suspended, and a fine of $500, $250 of it suspended. Hansen suspended Salyers’ license for six months but authorized Salyers to apply for a restricted license to be used for limited purposes. Salyers must also complete the state’s alcohol awareness program, VASAP.

A misdemeanor charge against 51-year-old Sperryville resident Robert Christopher Foster of removing or altering a serial number on a firearm was dropped. Goff explained that “there was no evidence that Mr. Foster obliterated the serial number. Believe it or not, it is not illegal in Virginia to possess a firearm with the serial number removed.”

Richard Patrick Lysaght, 23, of Bentonville, was sentenced, for misdemeanor obstruction of justice, to 180 days in jail, all suspended, and to pay a $250 fine. As part of his plea agreement, a charge of carrying a concealed weapon was dropped and he was ordered to pay a $35 fine for the charge of failing to have his vehicle inspected.

Sean Michael Knick, 50, of Washington, was arraigned on a misdemeanor charge of pointing or brandishing a firearm. The charge stems from an April 27 altercation between Knick and his Harris Hollow neighbor, Kim Adriaan Burgers. The case was continued to June 14.

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